Tuesday, 24 March 2015

Spring cleaning

In case you hadn't noticed, it's spring and it always means one thing to me. Cleaning.

Exciting, huh?!

No, really, this is the only time of year I will tend to get excited at the prospect of clearing clutter and cleaning things until they sparkle, or at least resemble their original colour or state.

Every Easter, we tackle a big project of some kind, be it a big garden clear-out or a complete makeover of a room. Three years ago, it was the lounge, two years ago it was the boiler and last year was all about outside.

This year, we're looking at updating our bedroom with new wallpaper, bedding, a rug and a few accessories to make it feel more inviting (post coming soon) and we'll also be clearing the patio completely to turn it into a play are for Ethan. He's getting a play house and slide for his birthday from us, plus some foam outdoor mats, so together with his turtle sandpit and swing he was given last year, he's going to have a brilliant time in our garden this year.

I've got a Bosch pressure washer which is going to sort out our grubby wooden awning once and for all and then we'll use it to blast away all the weather and grime on the tiles. I've always wanted to give them a thorough clean and this pressure washer has all the bits and bobs to make a big difference, so I can't wait to get it out.

This past weekend, we began our spring clean of 2015 and made a really big difference. We sorted and parted ways with a few of Ethan's older toys which he has now grown out of, we cleared all our nooks and crannies of random rubbish and we scrubbed the kitchen from top to bottom. All nearly empty bottles and out of date packets of food were removed (I'm ashamed to say there was quite a bit of wastage lurking at the back of the cupboards) and all our cupboard doors were cleaned so they actually showed up white for the first time in a long time.

The biggest difference, however, was in our floors.

I have to admit, we are a bit lax in this area, relying on our old hoover for the most part and having gone through several mops over the years, none of which have lasted very long.

But now, we have a solution that I think we can really stick to.

We have slate tiles in the kitchen, terracotta style small tiles in the dining room (an unknown feature we discovered under old carpet a few years ago, which could do with a really good scrub) and laminate flooring in the hall and also in Ethan's nursery.

All these floors get a lot of traffic during the day, with muddy dog and cat paws adding to our own footprints and of course Ethan's now on the move so making his own mess wherever he goes.

We really want to be sure to give the floors a good, thorough clean on a regular basis so little man can roam a bit free-er around the house without us worrying about him getting grubby or picking anything nasty up.

So, what has swept us away and made our spring clean super easy?

This wonder mop, or the Vac and Steam from Bissell as it's properly known, has.

As it suggests, it can both vac and steam at the same time, or one at a time if you prefer, and it's perfect for hard flooring of all kinds, with two steam settings, which is why it was the right tool for the job.

I happily spent around 30 minutes on Saturday afternoon vacuuming and steam cleaning all our hard floors and was very happy doing so. Sad, maybe, but I really enjoyed using this mop.

Someone on Instagram saw a photo I posted during our mammoth clean up and asked if I would recommend it as they were looking for something just like this and yes, I really would.

Why?

Well, the Vac and Steam is quite lightweight but still has some oomph to it, it was easy to put together and fill the water tank, the functions are easy to select and it's was really easy to manoeuvre, push and stand upright too. But most importantly, it cleans the floors. A given really, considering it's function but it made light work of our filthy floors with minimum effort.

Dog bowl area? Not a problem. Spills and stains in the kitchen? Sorted.

The difference was so quick and so obvious, I felt like dancing across my newly steam cleaned floor. I stopped myself, but I did demand that hubs and my brother-in-law, who had popped over to say hello, come and admire the end result.

I'm definitely going to add floor cleaning to my (very small) list of chores I want to do now. Mops are usually such a pain and just seem to move dirt around and leave a lot of excess water, but the Vac and Steam is completely different.

We looked at the Bissell website to find out what they had to offer and found the Vac and Steam in a special deal (no idea how long it's on for) where you can pick up the mop for £129.99 (usual RRP is £149.99) and also get their SteamShot (a small, handheld steam device with multiple attachments that can take care of dirty grouting, taps and windows as well as steaming clothes and curtains) for free. Yep, free.

We've also got some orange carpet cleaner to try and freshen up our lounge, stair and bedroom carpets, but that's a task for another day.

After beaming at my clean floors, I headed upstairs to pack away some clothes, bedding and give Ethan's playroom and nursery a good tidy up. As he was out for the day with his Nanny and Grandad, we were able to get a few things sorted, much more so than normal, although the mop has yet to be put away...

I may have just come over all Monica from Friends on you here but if you have a household that refuses to stay tidy, let alone clean, then you'll understand my joy.

So spring has definitely sprung in our house and I am loving how tidy and clean everything is looking, for the time being at least. I can't wait to give our bedroom a quick facelift and when my holiday rolls around later next week, I'm going to crack on with a few more bits and bobs too which I'm sure I'll also share with you soon.

Have you started blowing away the cobwebs? What spring cleaning tasks are you looking forward to doing?

1 comment

Hello

I’m Kelly, mama to Ethan (5) and bump (due December), wife to Ste and we live in Birmingham with our dog, two cats and two rabbits. You could say that life is pretty busy in our house… and it’s about to get busier!

TBM is a UK based family and lifestyle blog and vlog about my life, loves & adventures in motherhood, established since 2012. Here, I share my take on pregnancy, parenting, style, beauty, interiors, food and days out, and my mission to put the 'me' into mummy. Grab a cuppa and have a look around…